The Massachusetts men’s soccer team looks to ride its hot streak into its final two road games of the regular season as the Minutemen travel to Duquesne and St. Bonaventure this weekend.

UMass (4-9-1, 2-1-1 Atlantic 10) has seen its luck turn around recently, posting a 3-1-1 record in its last five matches after starting the season 1-8.

UMass coach Sam Koch said the team has finally adapted to the system and limited its miscues, which have gone a long way towards contributing to its recent turnaround.

“I think they’re definitely more confident and they believe in each other more,” said Koch.

Duquesne (3-7-2, 0-2-1 A-10) plays a high-pressured defensive-minded game and Koch believes they “will kick the daylights out of you if you’re not ready to play them…”

Koch also stated that the Dukes’ record is not indicative of their play. In both of its games last weekend, Duquesne lost by one goal with each of the game-winners coming in the final 10 minutes of play.

To make the task even taller, Duquesne’s playing surface is also a football field. According to Koch, the football lines are off-centered compared to the soccer lines, which makes it harder for road teams to adjust.

St. Bonaventure (4-7-2, 0-2-1 A-10) also dropped a pair of road games last weekend to Charlotte and Saint Louis.

Friday’s 5-1 loss at Charlotte was a lopsided affair, as the Bonnies found themselves down a pair of scores within the first nine minutes of play and managed their only goal on a 49ers own-goal.

Although Charlotte isn’t playing well, Koch does not want to underestimate any team.

A positive for UMass is the status of senior Bryant Craft, who returned to action on Sunday at La Salle. The team’s leading-scorer from a year ago came off the bench after missing the previous four games with a quad injury.

Koch said the captain is close to returning to 100 percent, but needs to regain his fitness as a result of missed playing time. Craft will play limited minutes at first, but will gain playing time as he recovers.

Even with the absence of Craft to start conference play, UMass currently sits in a tie for fourth place in the standings with Xavier.

The Minutemen have played up to the level of the competition to date, going 1-1-1 against the top teams in the conference: Charlotte, Fordham and La Salle. Only a 49ers golden goal in the 106th minute on Oct. 7 stands between UMass and an undefeated conference record.

According to Koch, UMass will be a team to be reckoned with if it wins both contests this weekend.

“If we have the same results that we had this past weekend, we’ll definitely be one of the teams that people have to beat to make it to the [A-10] tournament,” said Koch.

During the Minutemen’s recent hot streak, Koch explained that the ball has started to bounce their way as opposed to early in the season when the team could not catch a break in close games.

With this in mind, Koch knows that the remainder of the season will offer one tough test after the next.

“I think we’re a pretty solid team but any game can go either way,” said Koch.

Friday’s match is set to start at 7 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa. followed by Sunday’s 1 p.m. start in Olean, N.Y.

Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected].